Kayaköy Adventure Tours
Kayaköy is a village 8 km south of Fethiye in southwestern Turkey where Anatolian Greek-speaking Christians lived until approximately 1923. The ghost town, now preserved as a museum village, consists of hundreds of rundown but still mostly intact Greek-style houses and churches which cover a small mountainside and serve as a stopping place for tourists visiting Fethiye and nearby Ölüdeniz. It was built on the site of the ancient city of Carmylessus in the 18th century. It experienced a renewal after nearby Fethiye (known as Makri) was devastated by an earthquake in 1856 and a major fire in 1885. After the Greco-Turkish War, Kayaköy was largely abandoned after a population exchange agreement was signed by the Turkish and Greek governments in 1923. Its population in 1900 was about 2,000, almost all Greek Christians; however, it is now empty except for tourists and roadside vendors selling handmade goods and items scavenged from the former village. However, there are a selection of houses which have been restored and are currently occupied.
Today Kayaköy village serves as a museum and is a historical monument. Around 500 houses remain as ruins and are under the protection of the Turkish government, including two Greek Orthodox Churches, which remain the most important sights of the ghost town. There is a private museum on the history of the town. In the middle of the village stands a fountain source from the 17th century. Kayaköy was adopted by the UNESCO as a World Friendship and Peace Village.
Villagers were mostly professional craftsmen. Currently the most important economic factor of the place is tourism, will also be organic farming. It is envisaged that the village will be partially restored.
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